


'SF 523 
C6 

'Copy 1 



CONSTRUCTIVE 
BEEKEEPING 




BY 



ED H. CLARK 



, s . 




CONSTRUCTIVE 
BEEKEEPING 




BY 



ED H. CLARK 



.0 6 



Copyright, 1918, by 
ED. H. CLARK. 



APR 22 1918 



©CI.A496365 



<l\r V 



A WORD TO THE BEEKEEPERS. 



For this system or theory of housing bees I am making no 
extravagant claims, and had no thought of giving the public 
the result of my study and experiments until I had given them 
a test of a few more years, but the present necessity for increased 
production makes it the first duty of every person to stimulate 
in every way that he can this production; and if this system 
proves to be that will-of-the-wisp that the beekeepers have been 
chasing, a conclusion will be reached sooner than could be by 
my individual effort. 

—ED. H. CLARK. 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

Commercial beekeeping has for its object the production of 
the maximum quantity of well ripened honey at a minimum of 
cost. Swarming adds greatly to the cost of producing honey. 
Most methods of swarm-prevention have in them the element 
of destructiveness. Ventilating, removing the queen, shaking 
the bees, removing the brood, exchanging brood-bodies, loosening 
the cover, all destroying something that the bees have done, or 
adding to the work to be done in the hive. 

Let me state here that you are not going to be told that ab- 
solute swarm-prevention is a possibility, nor will you be told that 
honey can be produced by absent treatment. What you will get 
from a good understanding of the following pages is that the bee- 
keeper who takes advantage of the laws relating to condensation 
of vapor, and follows where the bees have been leading will have 
advanced one step nearer the swarmless bee. 

Instead of going to the hive and telling the bees (by manip- 
ulations) "don't do this"; say to them "keep all your brood, keep 
your queen, keep the cold damp air out of the hive and I will 
make your hive so perfect a condenser of water vapor that the 
work of evaporating water from the nectar will be done quickly." 
We will bring team-work into play, and each get the benefit of 
every advantage gained. 

Constructive beekeeping helps by getting the honey ripened 
quickly each night and stored out of the way of the queen. The 
hive will then be maintained in such a condition that the bees 
have the greatest amount of comfort in relation to the results 
produced. 

EFFICIENCY 

Familiarity with the bees makes a person wonder where the 
mule got his reputation for stubborness. We must, when we work 
with bees, follow where they lead if we want satisfactory results. 



6 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

They generally know what they want and fight to do it in their 
own way. 

The bee is an economical "fellow." Efficiency is his last 
name. For ages before our time he has been working at the 
same task that he has brought to such perfection. The bees that 
have excited the amazement and wonder of the world as build- 
ers of geometric comb, with all its economy and strength, the 
bees that make from the nectar of the flowers the honey, that is 
the superlative of all things sweet and good; have not stopped 
with these two achievements, but have maintained a marvel with- 
in their home, which, when understood, will amaze us more 
than ever. 

The bees collect propolis (despised by the beekeeper) and 
with infinite work and a knowledge of the laws of condensation 
cf moisture, have varnished the inside, sealed all openings that 
would give upper ventilation, making out of their home a perfect 
condenser for the water vapor that has filled the hive air by 
evaporation from the nectar. This moisture they collect from the 
inside surface of the hive, works right in with their idea of econ- 
omy, saving the carrying of water from the stream or spring. 

CO-OPERATION 

One great discovery in beekeeping was the beespace. When 
this space was within the limits that conform to what instinct 
told them was best, peace between the beekeeper and his bees 
was established along this line. 

A similar misunderstanding is on at the present time about 
the best way to get rid of the moisture in the hive. The bees, 
from the habits and customs, carried down for ages, contending 
that condensation is the system best adapted to their mode of life, 
while the beekeeper is trying to force them to use the ventilating 
system. I think that the beekeepr, being a most sensible person, 
will see the error of his way and eventually follow where the bee 
leads. The bees but show their contempt for ventilation when 
it is at its best. 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 7 

URGE 

Swarming is the breaking in two of a populous colony of bees 
for the reproduction of the colony. Other swarming need not 
be considered here. 

The confusion of conceptions which arises in the mind 
when the term swarm-prevention is mentioned, has to a great 
extent, been a hindrance to logical reasoning on this subject. 
At mention of the word swarm, there is conjured up from the 
background of our minds, the exciting and spectacular scenes 
we have seen enacted around the aipary. What we want to 
prevent not the birth but the conception. We must go even 
prior to this and prevent the primal urge. To avoid confusion 
and give reason and logic an opportunity to work, unhampered 
by visions conjured up at mention of the word swarm, the word 
urge will be used here to refer to the initial starting point of 
the swarming impulse. 

, The urge is the direct result of the actual or apparent failure 
of the queen. 

With the exception of a young queen in the hive, all other 
methods of urge prevention have to do with room for the queen 
to lay. Give the queen plenty of room to lay and swarms are 
reduced. Give the colony plenty of ventilation and you have 
fewer swarms. Young queen, and shade in the afternoons, 
reduce swarming. Room, ventilation, shade in the afternoon, 
and young queen have given the best results so far obtained. 

CONDITIONS. 

What has puzzled the beekeeper is that results obtained by 
the same treatment year after year have not been the same. Nor 
have the same results been obtained by similar treatments in dif- 
ferent localities. Bees always respond to similar treatment under 
like conditions by giving uniform results. The beekeepers' trou- 
ble is that he makes his treatments uniform but not his condi- 
tions. Conditions include all of the following things : 

1. Temperature. 

2. Direction and velocity of the wind. 



8 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

3. Moisture in the air. 

4. Depth of evaporation. 

5. Sunshine. 

6. Altitude. 

7. Number of bees. 

8. Fertility and vigor of the queen. 

9. Number of worker cells in the hive. 

10. Size of entrance. 

11. Construction of hive. 

12. Fit of hive parts and cover. 

13. Radiating surface on inside walls of the hive. 

14. Number of honey and pollen-producing plants. 

15. The amount of water in the nectar. 

To show how much harder bees would have to fan at the en- 
trance to ripen honey in some localities than in others, if they 
ripened it altogether by ventilation, the depth of evaporation in 
inches, taken from a map of the Weather Bureau, is here given : 

25 inches, Ontario, Canada. 
35 inches, Massachusetts. 
30 inches, Ohio, Northern part. 
50 inches, Illinois, Southern part. 
50 inches, Texas, Central part. 

60 to 100 inches, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and most 
of California. 

From this will readily be seen the different conditions under 
which the bees do their work in different localities, due to only 
one of the conditions previously mentioned. It is apparent that 
similar treatments, as regards ventilation, cannot give uniform 
results in all these places. 

To make the treatments as near uniform as possible and get 
like results under these different atmospheric conditions, we 
must follow the way of the bees and make the hive a condenser 
instead of a ventilator. 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 9 

ROOM 

To look at the question of room and apply constructive treat- 
ment is our aim. If the hive room is large, good results do not 
always follow. So much thought has been put into the experi- 
ments carried out with different sizes of hives, that the majority 
of beekeepers have settled on a standard size, which is best un- 
der most conditions. Some, advocate one a little larger, some a 
little smaller, but neither deviate much from the recognized stan- 
dard. So we must conclude that the bees and their keeper do not 
disagree greatly on the size of the hive. 

During the urge period the attention. of the beekeeper has 
mostly been given to brood rearing. To get best results he must 
have the hive filled with bees at the beginning of the honey flow. 
He knows that swarming results when the hive is full of brood, 
nectar, honey and bees, so he increases the size of the hive. 

As the lack of room is not the result of one condition, but 
of many, the added room may be more than the bees can heat. 
Our aim then must be to determine that nice balance between too 
much and too little room, ventilation and shade. On the correct 
determination of this balance our success depends. 

To have in our minds a conception of brood conditions in the 
hive prior to and at the time of the urge, will give us a clearer 
understanding of the principal cause of the urge. By a study of 
the following hypothetical tabulation, the conditions of a hive can 
be seen. A ten-frame hive of Langstroth dimentions has, when 
the frames are filled with worker cells, about 66,000 of these cells. 
Deduct 12,000 for the ones occupied by pollen and capped honey 
and there is left 54,000 cells for brood and nectar. 

This is about the condition of brood in a strong colony at 
Fargo, North Dakota on the given dates. On June 23 there would 
be in this colony 25,000 bees under 10 days and 44,440 over 10 
days old. 

It can readily be seen that, when the hive is filled with 
brood honey and pollen, when sunshine and flowers are tempting 



10 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 



APRIL 


EGGS 


BROOD 




EGGS 


BROOD 


1 


100 




13 


1500^ 


24100 


2 


100 




14 


1200 


24900 


3 


110 




15 


1000 


25400 


4 


110 




16 


1600 


26450 


5 


115 




17 


1600 


27400 


6 


115 




18 


1800 


28500 


7 


120 




19 


1500 


29200 


8 


120 




20 


1600 


- 29900 


9 


120 




21 


180Q 


30700 


10 


140 




22 


2200 


31800 


11 


140 




23 


2400 


33000 


12 


140 




24 


300 


34800 


13 


180 




25 


2800 


36300 


14 


180 




26 


2400 


37300 


15 


200 




27 


2600 


38500 


16 


200 




28 


3000 


40000 


17 


210 




29 


2500 


41000 


18 


215 




30 


2400 


41900 


19 


220 




31 


2000 


42300 


20 


240 




JUNE. 






21 


300 


3375 


1 


2400 


43000 


22 


300 


3575 


2 


3000 


44300 


23 


400 


3875 


3 


3400 


46200 


24 


500 


4265 


4 


3000 


48000 


25 


550 


4705 


5 


3200 


50200 


26 


650 


5240 


6 


3100 


51700 


27 


700 


5825 


7 


3000 


53100 


28 


800 


6505 


8 


2400 


53700 


29 


900 


7285 


9 


3000 


55200 


30 


1000 


8165 


10 


3200 


56800 


May 






11 


3000 


58000 


1 


1100 


9125 


12 


2500 


58300 


2 


1200 


10185 


13 


2400 


58300 


3 


1200 


11245 


14 


3000 


58300 


4 


1300 


12365 


15 


2800 


58300 


5 


1400 


13585 


16 


2400 


58300 


6 


1400 


14785 


17 


2600 


58300 


7 


1500 


16085 


18 


3000 


58300 


8 


1500 


17375 


19 


2500 


58300 


9 


1500 


18660 


20 


2400 


58300 


10 


1600 


20040 


21 


2000 


58300 


11 


' 1700 


21500 


22 


2400 


58300 


12 


1700 


22900 


23 


3000 


58300 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 11 

the bees to work almost to madness, the honey coming in de- 
posited in cells and interfering with the laying of the queen, 
their system of housekeeping is disorganized. Their instinct 
tells them that now is the time to get things in shape for 
swarming. 

Another condition of hive that gives like results is when 
the cells are filled with nectar, and the conditions of atmosphere 
and hive such that little or no evaporation takes place. 

WAX. 

Also, when from whatever cause, the bees have a lot of 
sealed honey around the brood-nest, and because the empty out- 
side combs are too cold for work, they will not remove the 
honey to these to enable the queen to lay. This is the condition 
of colony where spreading the brood makes more room, also 
that makes a colony in a sixteen-frame hive take on the urge. 

To understand this condition a knowledge of the relation 
of temperature to wax- working is necessary. To work and build 
with wax requires a temperature nearly as high as that main- 
tained in the brood-nest, and when any part of the hive is colder 
than is consistent for easy work with wax; the bees, if they 
work on wax at all, do it in the warmer part of the hive. 

It must be borne in mind that the bees, like all other crea- 
tures, do things mostly in the line of least resistance. It is 
easier to work wax where it is warm than where it is cold. 
Hence we find the bees starting on the center combs in the 
second super, before finishing the outside ones in the first. The 
beekeeper who puts boards, with slits on either side for the 
bees to enter the super from the brood-chamber, produces a 
condition that sends the warm air from the brood-chamber up 
through the slits; thereby giving the bees a good temperature 
to work on outside combs. 

Beekeepers who produce heather honey in England, because 
of the cold nights, put a covering over and around the supers 
to keep them warm. Otherwise poor results follow. It has 
been demonstrated that combs can be built down to the bottom- 



12 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

bar in a super better than in a brood-chamber with an opening 
at the bottom front, and here again temperature plays its part. 

Knowing the relation of temperature to working in wax, it 
can readily be seen how a colony, with plenty of hive room may 4 
be crowded for brood-room and acquire the urge. 

Caging the queen gives more room, but brings on the urge 
and may result in swarming. Removal of the brood and sub- 
stituting foundation or drawn comb gives laying room to the 
queen. These are good examples of destrutive beekeeping. Haw 
much better the colony could get ahead had they hives so con- 
structed and protected from outside weather conditions that 
they could evaporate the water from their honey and store it 
away from the brood-nest. 

Shaking the bees gives ample room, but that is artifical 
swarming. 

Removing the water from the nectar and giving the bees an 
opportunity to store this ripened nectar in fewer cells makes 
more room, and when this can be accomplished soon after the 
bees' last trip to the field, it shortens their hours of work, adds 
to their comfort and perhaps lengthening their lives. 

It is just as necessary for the economy of their domestic 
arrangement that they have room sufficient and warm enough 
to ripen the honey, as for storage of ripened honey and brood. 

BROOD - FRAMES 

Brood-frames cannot be ignored in constructive beekeeping, 
because they have so close a relation to room in the hive. The 
nearer the number of worker cells in all the frames approach 
the maximum, the more room the hive contains. Frames not 
filled to the bottom-bar and frames containing drone comb ; will, 
together with other conditions, make just enough difference in 
hive room to bring on the urge. The ten-frame hive, under 
these conditions, has but little more room than eight full frames. 
The size of a hive, no matter what its dimensions, is expressed 
in the number of worker cells it contains. A hive with but from 
40,000 to 50,000 worker cells must not be thought of as a 
standard hive, even though it has ten standard frames. 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 13 

Empty spaces inside the frames make an extra expense to 
the beekeeper, and an added burden on the bees. They have 
fully one-fourth more space to keep warm in a hive with beespace 
and frames, than they have in a box hive of the same dimensions. 

Another way a constructive principle can be applied to the 
frame is to reduce the top-bar to the same thickness as the 
bottom-bar. Beekeepers are convinced that ten frames are not 
enough for a good laying queen, therefore some advocate giving 
more room above, by adding another hive-body, others giving 
more room on the side, using a wider hive-body, while some make 
the hive higher, wider and longer. The larger hive-body, it is 
claimed, gives better results when used in producing extracted 
honey, but it can never become a standard hive, because a great 
number of beekeepers produce comb honey. 

The ten frame or standard hive being the best for most pur- 
poses, it remains for the beekeeper, when he gives more room, 
to give the bees a brood-nest with as little space between comb 
and comb, where the brood-bodies meet, as possible. Considering 
that all the combs in the hive body given above are built down to 
the bottom-bar, we have at the junction of the two hive bodies, 
a space between comb and comb of top-bar, beespace and bottom 
bar, or about one and one-half inches. From experiments it has 
been observed that a thick top-bar is a fairly good queen excluder. 
Hence it is apparent that more or less of an effort is required to 
pass over this space. When this is reduced by a thin top-bar an 
easier passage for the queen and bees is made, and better results 
will follow. In smoothing out little difficulties like these we are 
always amply repaid. 

For the same reason all comb should be built down to 
the bottom-bar, then with cells overlapping top and bottom bars 
of the respective hive-bodies, the beespace is all that separates 
comb from comb. The thin top-bar adds more cells to the hive, 
so adding its mite to the economy of the hive, and giving the 
bees nearly continuous comb from top to bottom of the hive. 



14 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

VENTILATION 

One of the axioms of beekeeping is ventilate . No matter 
what other manipulations the beekeeper recommends to prevent 
swarming, he always adds "VENTILATED Why do the bees 
require so much fresh air in May and June when they have double 
the capacity of air space, within the hive, that they have in 
October and November 

The air in the hive serves a two-fold purpose. It supplies 
the bees with oxygen and influences the amount of water vapor 
the hive can contain. This water vapor is given off in the 
ripening of honey and the breathing of the bees. It is either 
removed from the hive by ventilation or carried to the walls and 
ceiling, where it is condensed and used by the bees for domestic 
purposes. 

Ventilation is constructive in principle when the nights are 
warm and the atmosphere comparatively dry, but is destructive 
when the nights are cold and the atmosphere nearly saturated 
with moisture. Only the best beekeepers can, by ventilation, 
maintain that nice balance that accords with temperature and 
strength of the colony. 

During the season when the bees are most likely to acquire 
the urge the nights are colder and the humidity of the air greater 
than later in the season. At such times a cold current of air 
throught the hive interferes with the rearing of brood and does 
not help much in the ripening of honey. Each day of good 
honey gathering bringing the colony nearer to a crowded 
condition. 

No beekeeper finds it practicable to change the ventilation 
as the temperature changes, but must rely on his judgment of 
the amount that gives best results. 

The manipulations of divisible brood chambers can be con- 
sidered under the head of ventilation. When the two sections 
of the brood chamber have been broken apart or exchanged, the 
percentage of colonies that acquire the urge has been reduced. 
This can readily be explained by showing how it makes for ven- 
tilation. If it is done prior to the urge it will have a tendency to 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 15 

reduce swarming. All tearing apart of hive-bodies from each 
other or from covers or bottom-boards leaves a rough surface 
to the adjoining parts, the result of dirt, grass or bees adhering 
to the propolis. When the hive is again put together the adjoin- 
ing surfaces are not tight and ventilation is the result. 

The result of ventilation is room. Because ventilation has 
given more room we have all believed in it. Room can be given 
by ventilation but at the expense of a warm hive. 

The velocity of the wind and shape and size of the entrance 
must be studied in their relations to one another when consider- 
ing ventilation. The ill effects from winds, even with reduced en- 
trances, is sometimes apparent. A bunch of grass or a shrub, 
sometimes two or three feet away from the entrance may deflect 
and send a current of air right into the hive, or it may produce 
a calm at the entrance. The only possible way to have uniform 
ventilation is to have a good wind break. If the hives are so 
situated as to be in a calm at all times then what ventilation there 
is is regular, but hives so situated are troubled with excessive 
swarming. 

With any wind at all blowing, no two hives in a row, nor in dif- 
ferent rows, even though they have the same size openings, will 
have the same ventilation. To any one who has tried to follow 
the course of air movements along the surface and a few feet 
above the earth, winding in and out among obstructions, some- 
times flying off at a tangent, sometimes circling all around, 
sometimes upward or downward, bounding and rebounding from 
such obstructions, it is apparent that air currents among the 
hives in an aipary are so complex as to be past our understanding. 
This but shows with what little certainty ventilation can be made 
anyway uniform. Hence the different results at different times 
from apparently similar treatments. 

Shade in the afternoon has been proven to be somewhat of a 
preventive of the urge. This is clearly explained by the laws 
governing condensation of water vapor, and will be treated in the 
chapter under that head. 

Ventilation and shade each make more room in the hive, 



16 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEIPING 

which leads me to remark that ventilation is constructive at the 
proper time, and under right atmospheric conditions, but is de- 
structive in spring and early summer, because of the low tem- 
perature and moisture-laden atmosphere. Air that is already full 
of moisture will be of little use in drying the air of the hive. To 
demonstrate this a wet cloth can be hung by the hive on a night 
of high relative humidity, and in the morning it will be far from 
dry. It will require no great reasoning on the part of anyone to 
see that the water vapor of the hive is not all carried away by 
ventilation. 

SWARMING 

During a heavy flow of honey the queen gradually and some- 
times sharply reduces the number of eggs laid per day. We know 
that had the same thing happened during the spring building-up 
of the colony it would have brought on the urge. Some one will 
point to the above statement as a contradiction of the one that 
the urge is the direct result of the actual or apparent failure 
of the queen. We know, from observation, that they are almost 
sure to swarm in spring or early summer when this condition^ 
exists. In summer, with an abundant honey flow and plenty of 
room, they rarely swarm. In the fall they quietly supercede 
the queen. 

It is obvious that the aim or object for which they strive 
in each of the three periods mentioned is not the same, and that 
the aim or object attained as the collective result of these three 
periods, is that for which all bees are striving, the survival of 
the colony. 

During the spring period the one purpose for which they 
strive is numbers. Every atom of concerted energy of the colony 
is working to increase the unit strength of the colony. When we 
consider the advantages that numbers give for offense and de- 
fense and general welfare, we know that they are urged on by 
the law of the survival of the fitest. 

After this carnival of brood-rearing, when weather and field 
conditions prompt their instinct to a realization that winter is 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 17 

ahead, and only the colonies that are f itest survive ; we have the 
energy of the colony directed as a unit to gathering stores. 
The brood-rearing at this period is a secondary consideration, and 
about keeps pace with the bees that fall from the ranks. 

The next period has brood-rearing and general preparation 
for the winter on its schedule. This brood-rearing does not take 
on* the riotous nature of the spring period. 

There is no definite line or date dividing these periods. They 
dovetail into one another and only by close observance and much 
bee-wisdom is a person able to detect the change of colony 
procedure as the bees pass from the spring to the summer period. 
Because of the inability of the ordinary beekeeper to sense this, 
he has not been uniformly successful in the production of comb 
honey. 

In passing from one period to the other the colony work 
fades from rearing brood to gathering honey, then back again to 
rearing brood. This change depends as much or more on strength 
and good condition of the colony as on weather and field con- 
ditions. The beekeeper, not being able to tell the exact time that 
each particular colony is prepared to take on the work of the next 
period, assumes that they take on the urge in the summer period 
when contraction of the brood takes place. 

The rearing of oueens by the colony cannot be considered 
an acquired habit. We have to admit that it is both for the 
xeproduction of the colony and the species, and goes back to the 
very origin of life. 

The strongest disire or urge in all life is to reproduce its 
kind. If this disire is destroyed in a species that species becomes 
extinct. It is an impossibility to breed a swarmless bee. If it 
could be done all ambition, vim and energy would disappear, and 
as much could be accomplished with so many inanimate units.' 
The main thing in life is reproduction. All other things are done 
for the better bringing it about. Increase and multiply is the 
urge of all things living, so that each generation is greater in 
numbers and wisdom than the preceding. 

As generation after generation succeeds one another, the 



18 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

acquirements of one when they are advantageous to the next, 
puts that next generation a stride forward in the battle for ex-* 
istance . The colonies in which this acquired habit took hold suc- 
ceeded best, and when we reali z e that this development has been 
going on for countless years, by slow evolution, we can believe 
that the bees have acquired habits that are of advantage to them 
in their mode of life. Swarming is one of these habits, and 
should we be able to breed it out, they would be thrown back, to 
their way of life or social development that existed in the colony 

before they acquired this habit. 

A colony of bees cannot be considered in the scheme of re- 
production the same as individuals. Individuals are being born 
regularly in th ecolony, but through an acquired habit the colony 
carries on what may be called limited birth control, by [prevent- 
ing the perfect development of the female. CONDITIONS that 
induce the colony to start oueen-cells, or allow perfedt 
development, is what we must control to prevent the urge. 

The bees in their wild state seldom had a home that did not 
at some time become filled to its capacity. They developed a 
habit, as we know, of putting off reproduction of the colony 
while conditions in the home were such, that the strength of the 
colony could be increased; but letting it take place normally 
when home conditions were getting crowded. Sometimes the 
home was of such size that this did not occur for several seasons, 
but eventually the home became crowded, from accumulated 
honey, and swarming resulted. 

The smaller the hive the sooner the urge. The smaller col- 
onies that came from the smaller homes did not survive as often 
as the stronger ones, that had more time and room to prepare; 
hence we have bees with the habit of putting off swarming as 
long as hive conditions permit. 

The act of swarming must be considered a protest against 
a condition in the hive. Could we keep a colony of bees with a 
good queen, and plenty of necessary room, we would have no 
swarms. It has been done, so it is not impossible. 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 19 

EVAPORATION 

One of the by-products given off by the bees in ripening 
honey is water vapor. Sometimes more than one pound of water 
is expelled from the honey in part of a night. This much water 
vapor at average hive temperature of 90 deg. F. would fill to sat- 
uration over 600 standard hive-bodies. Then if the air entering 
the hive was absolutely dry, and that emerging from it at satur- 
ation, and the hive air completely changed in one minute, this 
amount of water vapor would pass out in about 10 hours. But 
we never have absolutely dry air, nor do we have all the air in 
the hive even near saturation, nor can the bees change all the 
air in the hive, through an opening in the lower front, in one min- 
ute. The bees could not get rid of a pound of water this way in 
24 hours. 

One pound of water evaporated during the night, from the 
nectar brought in during the day, would empty over 1600 cells. 
These and the ones vacated by hatching bees would keep well 
ahead of the queen. 

In handling bees we are bound to give recognition and 
allowance for the storing and ripening of nectar between the 
stores of ripened honey and the brood. If the hive be so pro- 
tected that a good working temperature can easily be maintained, 
the honey close around the brood-nest is either moved to some 
outside comb, or consumed by the bees and brood, leaving empty 
cells to store the nectar. 

Removal of the water from the nectar is something to which 
the beekeeper has given little attention, because it could not be 
seen, but nevertheless we have the water vapor given off when 
the bee ripens a drop of honey in his mouth. We are as certain 
of it as we are of the wax scales that the bees secrete. We see the 
wax, but the water vapor not being visible, has claimed little of 
our attention. The beekeeper, striving for good results, cannot 
afford to overlook the great part that water vapor plays in the 
hive. 

When the beekeeper opens the hive for inspection, does he 



20 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

ever observe the room available for the storage of a generous 
amount of nectar. He looks for queen-cells, the amount of brood 
and sealed honey, and in this way he is conscious of what he calls 
plenty of room. While there is yet space between brood and 
honey, he concludes that the bees swarm before they are crowded 
for room. Did they have room to carry on all the work of the 
hive ? 

Consider a farmer, who has ample granary room to store his 
wheat, and who tried to put it in the granary before it was 
thrashed. It can readily be seen that the granary would not hold 
it. The bees must have temporary storage cells just as the 
farmer must have sufficient room to stack his grain before it is 
thrashed. This is the room that the beekeeper has sensed, rather 
than to have observed it as room necessary for the domestic work 
of the bees. As the farmer must put aside the straw, so must 
the bees evaporate the water to get the finished honey that can 
be stored economically. 

How do the bees dispose of the great amount of water 
carried into the hive in the nectar ? You say : "they evaporate 
it and it is carried off by the air." But is it? Try, drying the 
family wash in a room of dimensions, as regards water to be 
evaporated, temperature and opening at the floor, proportionate 
to the beehive, and see how fast your wash dries. Be sure you 
have no windows in the room to condense the water vapor. Try 
it when temperature outside is 60 deg. F and the atmosphere one- 
half saturated, (one-half saturated in the evening is about as 
dry as we find the air in May and June where there is ample rain 
fall). Then try it when the atmosphere is 9-10 saturated, and 
after this experience you will be more amazed than ever at the 
bees' efficiency. 

Still you are skeptical and remember that you should have 
put an electric fan at the opening, because the bees are seen 
to fan at the entrance. Let us not delude ourselves about the 
bees moving all the water vapor, given off in ripening honey, 
out of the hive by fanning. 

Records of temperature and humidity taken from the U. S. 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 21 

Weather Station at Moorhead, Minnesota, for three days at 7 

P. M. are as follows: 

1916 Temperature Humidity 

May 13 45.5 93 

May 14 42.5 100 

May 15 37.5 96 

To remove from the hive one grain of water vapor by fan- 
ning on May 13, the volume of air that would have to be moved 
would be five or six times the air capacity of the hive. To re- 
move one pound of water would require the removal of a volume 
of air equal to the capacity of from 30,000 to 40,000 hive-bodies. 
On May 14 the outside air being saturated, no water vapor could 
be removed by a change of air, and on May 15 the result would be 
about the same. 

From this it can readily be seen that little evaporation from 
the nectar could take place by ventilation, and we are led to be- 
lieve that on such days as these the urge takes hold, giving 
swarms the last week of May. 

No contention will be raised when the statement is made 
that the water is evaporated from the honey before we have 
ripened honey. It has been taken for granted that as soon as the 
water passes off by evaporation the bees were done with it. 
They would be if this evaporation took place the same as from 
the family wash hung on a line in open air. But if instead of hav- 
ing the great volume of mooving outside air, we have in a stan- 
dard hive body a little less than one cubic foot of air, where is all 
this water vapor going to go ? Saturate this small volume of air 
at hive temperature and the water vapor in it would be from 
1-600 to 1-5000 of what the bees evaporate in a night during a 
good honey flow. If they saturated this air in the hive and then 
forced it out at the entrance, they would cause rain in the hive 
near the entrance. 

When hive conditions are as they should be we must con- 
clude that all the air in the hive is never near saturation. There 
is no known way of accurately measuring the humidity of the air 
inside the hive, but we can safely estimate that, except for a thin 



£2 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

layer under the cover, it is never more than 3-4 saturated*. We 
have then air entering the hive at a temperature of 50'F. and 1-2 
satuation which would, when heated to hive temperature, be 
about 1-4 saturated. This air then when heated to hive temper- 
ature, being 1-4 saturated, is capable of taking up moisture until 
it is 3-4 saturated. The amount of moisture taken up by this air 
is 3-4 minus 1-4 or 1-2 of its capacity at saturation. This amount 
of water vapor would be less than 1-1000 of a pound for one cubic 
foot of air. 

Now follow the course of thiS|90 degree air in passing from 
the hive by way of the entrance. As it approaches the entrance 
the temperature is reduced and it would give up some of its 
water at the entrance. Could they force all the air out of the 
hive at a temperature of 90 and fully saturated, each time the air 
in the hive is changed 1-600 of a pound of water would be re- 
moved. A pound of water could be expelled from the hive in 10 
hours if the bees could change all the air of the hive once a 
minute. 

When an analysis of the evaporation inside the hive is under- 
taken we are confronted with many conditions that increase or 
retard it. Water vapor and warm air being lighter than air at the 
entrance, pass naturally to the top of the hive, and remain there 
unless some mechanical force compels them to move toward the 
entrance. This force is noticable when the hive contains smoke. 
Under normal conditions we do not find this fanning going on all 
through the hive. 

So far only the evaporation which takes place when the air 
and water are at the same temperature has been considered. 
Water can readily be turned into steam by boiling. This steam 
begins to rise from the surface of the water long before the water 
comes to the boiling point. "The surface of any watery liquid, 
whose temperature is 20 degrees warmer than any superincum- 
bent air, rapidly gives off true steam,"* applies to the evapora- 
tion in the hive. We know the temperature of the bee's body, 



*WehV Natural Philosophy. 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 23 

and it naturally follows that the temperature of the nectar in the 
bee's stomach is the same. Observation tells us that the bees 
ripen the honey drop by drop, bringing it from the stomach and 
pulsating each drop in the mouth for about ten minutes.J The 
drop during this process is exposed to the air at the particular 
temperature of that part of the hive where the bee is doing this 
work. When this temperature is 20 degrees colder than the drop 
of nectar true steam is given off. This evaporation takes place, 
no matter how much water vapor is in the air, and varies with 
the difference of the temperature of the air surrounding the drop 
of nectar. This is forced evaporation. We find conditions fa- 
vorable to forced evaporation in cool night temperatures and a 
hive with a generous around of room. 

To clearly comprehend the great amount of water that must 
be evaporated to get a pound of ripened honey, let us assume 
that 12 pounds is the weight of one gallon of honey, and 48 
pounds the weight of 6 gallons of water. 6 gallons of water mix- 
ed with 1 gallon of honey gives 60 pounds of water and honey. 
20% of ripened honey is water. 20% of 12 pounds or 1 gallon of 
honey is 2.4 pounds. 48 pounds plus 2.4 pounds is 50.4 pounds, 
which is the weight of water in this mixture. 50.4 pounds is 
84 % of 60 pounds. 84% is a conservative estimate of the amount 
of water in nectar. To get 1 gallon of honey 48 pounds of water 
must be separated from the nectar. To get 1 pound 1-12 of 48 
pounds of water must be separated, or 4 pounds. Let us grant 
that 2 pounds of this water is disposed of before the bees enter 
the hive. They will still have 2 pounds of water to evaporate 
before they produce 1 pound of ripened honey. When the honey 
increase of a hive is 4 pounds a day, 8 pounds of water must be 
evaporated. The nectar carried into the hive that day would re- 
quire about three frames for temporary storage. When condi- 
tions are such as to hamper evaporation for two or three days 
of successful honey gathering, it can readily be seen that a 
crowed condition could exist. 



$A. C. Miller. 



24 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

NECTAR IN THE FLOWERS 

Another wc*y that evaporation influences the work of the 
bees is that which takes place from the surface of the nectar 
while it is yet in the flower. Very little is known of the exact 
percentage of water in nectar. It has been weighed and found 
range from 60% to 93%. Scientists can never give us much in- 
formation on this, unless they take into account the evaporation 
which takes place from the surface of the nectar in the open 
flowers. Nectar in the same blossom may contain 90% of water 
at 9 A. M. and 60% at 2 P. M., because of the movements of the 
air, sunshine and low relative humidity. Because of this varie- 
tion of the volume of water in nectar, we can understand^ what 
a differance there would be in hive conditions, as the nectar is 
gathered at a time when there is little or much evaporation tak- 
ing place in the field. 

Consider the gathering of nectar from buckwheat. There 
are districts where the bees work wholly on buckwheat during 
its blooming season, and peculiarities of the flow of this nectar 
have been commented on by many beekeepers. Some have noted 
that the nectar has all disappeared about 2 P. M. They have not 
gone so far as to prove this by an examination of the flowers, 
but have assumed it to be so, because the bees did not work on 
the flowers after this houi. This reasoning is right as to the ab- 
sence of nectar after this hour. 

Other things commented on, are that the bees gather honey 
from buckwheat only during sunshine periods, and that they 
gather more on a still day than a windy one. 

Let us now assume that all the blossoms that receive the 
direct rays of the sun secrete nectar suitable for the bees. We 
have no reason to doubt that flowers on the same plant, surroun- 
ded by like conditions viz ; sunshine and air, secrete nectar that 
the bees can gather. The bees can not gather all the nectar from 
every flower which contains it, before 2 P. M. It is not reason- 
able to beleive that the flower absorbs what the bees don't gather 
by this time, and yet we know that it has disappeared. The only* 
way to explain this absence of nectar after this hour is that it 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 25 

has evaporated. Note the statement that the wind reduces the 
amount of honey gathered. Wind increases evaporation. 

Unless some close observer along this line can prove other- 
wise, we must reason that the flower containing nectar in the 
morning, and if this nectar has not been removed by any insect, 
would still contain nectar in the afternoon, so that the bees could 
gather it, if evaporation had not reduced it to such consistancy 
as to be useless to the bees. 

ABSORBTION OF WATER BY HONEY 

It would be impossible for the bees, except under the most 
favorable conditions, as regards humidity of the air, to produce 
well ripened honey wholly by evaporation and depending on v n- 
tilation alone to carry off the water vapor. Honey put up in bar- 
rels that are not dry, absorb water from the wood, shrinking it 
enough to cause leakage. One of the causes of watery cappings 
is that the honey has absorbed water from the moisture-laden 
air. 

Even if the bees ripened all the honey by some process with- 
in themselves, as some have suggested, (this would have to allow 
for only worker-bees doing the ripening and throwing off the 
water in the flight from the hive) , the moisture-laden air, would 
soon undo the work of the bees. Hence to produce well ripened 
honey we have to let the bees condense the moisture of the hive 
on the inside walls and ceilings. An exception of this would be 
in localities having a very dry atmosphere, but these are very 
scarce during the urge period. 

CONDENSATION 

A good understanding of the condensing properties of a hive 
will make clear a great deal that pu z zels us about bees, and such 
knowledge constructively applied to honey production, cannot 
fail to give results, the magnitude of which, the beekeeper with 
his present knowledge, would hardly dare to hope for. 

We have seen that ventilation, by moving the warm air ,out 
of the hive reduces the heat of the hive. When better results 



26 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

can be obtained in a way that conserves the heat of a hive, a step 
forward has been taken. This will result if we let the bees, as 
they are striving to do, use their hive as a condenser. 

To understand how water vapor is condensed in a hive, the 
dewpoint should be understood. Saturated air is at the dewpoint. 
The amount of moisture that the air will hold varies as the tem- 
perature changes. The amount of moisture in the air is spoken 
of as absolute humidity. Air at degrees F. is saturated with 
1-2 grain, at 60 degrees F. 5 grains, and at 80 degrees F. with 11 
grains of water vapor. Air at 60 degrees which contains but 
2 1-2 grains of gater vapor would be at 1-2 or 50 per cent of sat- 
uration. Air at 78 degrees which contains the same amount of 
watef vapor (2 1-2 grains) would be but 1-4 or 25 per cent satur- 
ated. This per cent of saturation is called relative humidity. If 
the amount of water vapor in the air remains constant as the 
temperature changes, the relative humidtiy changes with the 
temperature. Air that is saturated at 78 degrees would have to 
give up 50 per cent of its water vapor when its temperature is 
reduced to 60 degrees, leaving this 60 degree air also saturated. 

The dewpoint is the temperature of the air, at which it would 
be at saturation, if the amount of moisture is neither increased 
nor deminished. 

To illustrathe the principle of the air giving up part of its 
water vapor when its temperature is reduced to the dewpoint* 
saturate a sponge with water, then press slightly on it and it 
looses part of its water. The pressure of the hands acts on the 
sponge the same as reduced temperature on saturated air. 

The most obvious illustration of this formation of dew, or 
condensation of moisture on a cool surface, is when a pitcher of 
ice water is placed in a warm room. This everybody is familiar 
with. Condensed vapor on the windows, when the outside tem- 
perature is cool, is another. Place a pan, bottom up on the ground 
and dew will be found on the inside surface of the pan in the 
morning. 

The beehive, when we allow the bees to arrange their own 
ventilation, condenses vapor this way, when there is enough dif- 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 27 

ference between outside and inside temperature to give a dew- 
point on the inside surface of the hive. We do not observe any 
great amount of moisture on the inside walls of the hive, during 
the urge period, because the bees, needing a good supply of water 
to mix with the food they prepare, gather it as soon as deposited, 
leaving the surface in better condition for more condensation. 
This gives the bees nice distilled water for their use. 

Records of weights taken morning and evening, during the 
honey flow, show but a slight loss in weight of the hive each 
morning. This has puzzled many beekeepers, and some have 
suggested that the bees got rid of the water of the nectar before 
entering the hive. 

Let us look at this and apply the condensation theory. The 
bees evaporate the water from the nectar, condense it on the 
inside walls of the hive, then gather it as distilled water and mix 
it with food for the brood. The water has been evaporated, but 
the hive still retains it, and the hive weights have decreased but 
little during the night. 

We have all had some experience with dew and have ob- 
served that all objects will not have dew on their surfaces in the 
morning, after a night favorable to the deposit of dew. The 
grass will be very wet, but the road is dry. A painted board is 
wetter than an unpainted one. The grass and the road are in con- 
tact with air containing the same amount of water vapor. Any 
Natural Philosophy will explain this by the laws governing the 
radiation of heat. The surfaces of objects on which the dew has 
been deposited radiate more heat into space, and consequently 
cool more than the ones that radiate less heat and have no dew 
on them. The air which comes in contact with the colder surface, 
and whose temperature is reduced to the dewpoint, is compelled 
to give up some of its moisture. 

The law of the dewpoint operates in the hive the same as 
cutside. Air in the hive at a temperature of 90 degrees which 
contains 8 grains of water vapor must, when it comes in contact 
with the cool walls of the hive whose temperature is 60 degrees, 
give up 3 grains of its water vapor. This condensation will go 



28 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

on as long as temperature of the hive walls, temperature of air 
in the hive, and humidity of hive air, hold such relations to each 
other that the dewpoint obtains at the inside surface of the hive. 
All objects do not radiate heat equally well. Some part with 
their heat or become cold faster than others. A smooth istone, 
exposed the same as grass surrounding it, does not part with its 
heat as readily as the grass. 

PROPOLIS 

I 

Blackened tin has a high radiating power and is taken as a 
standard for expressing the radiating power of other substances. 
Give the radiating power of blackened tin as 100, rosin is 96 and 
wood is very low. Propolis, being a rosin its radiating power is 
almost perfect. But few substances approach this high standard. 
It is obvious that more condensation takes place on a hiye lined 
with propolis than one where the wood is without a varnish. 
More condensation makes more evaporation, more exaporation 
makes more room. 

A substance like propolis that is a good radiator and absorb- 
er, is a poor transmitter of heat. Propolis used as a varnish 
keeps the hive heat from warming the wooden walls, and they 
being cooler at night, give a temperature to the inside surface, 
that condenses the water vapor fast or slow, as the difference 
cf inside air temperature and wall temperature is great or small. 

The bees finding it necessary to separate a great deal of 
water from the nectar, dispose of it by evaporation, but instinct 
tells them that the" air holds very little on cool nights in May and 
June ; so to remove this moisture from the air, they varnish the 
inside walls and make a condenser out of the hive. The process" 
is, in principle, the same as that used in distillation. 

The makers of refrigerators take advantage of condensation 
to maintain dry air in the food chamber. A refrigerator car, 
after years of experimenting has been finished off with several 
coats of varnish. It has been proven, by tests, that products that 
are inclined to sweat or absorb moisture, keep drier in a highly 
varnished car than in one not varnished. The water vapor in the 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 2 9 

air condenses on the inner surface of the car, making the air 
drier, consequently preventing the absorbtion of water from the 
air by the products stored in the car. 

SHADE 

Shade in the afternoon has been observed to have a tendency 
to prevent swarming. There can be no condensation if the tem- 
perature of the hive walls is nearly equal to or higher than the. 
ahive air. This is the condition that exists most of the day and 
evening when the weather is warm and the sun is shining; pro- 
viding the hives are not shaded. When a hive is so situated that 
the shade covers it about noon or soon thereafter, the conditions 
for condensation are good, cool walls. 

Bees situated in dense shade have been observed to swarm 
more than those having more open surroundings. In dense shade 
the humidity is high and no movement of air takes place. The 
hive may be well ventilated as the beekeeper has had best results 
from well ventilated hives ; but the air, being almost saturated 
when it enters the hive, does not carry off the water vapor from 
the hive. The good ventilation keeps the inside and outside 
walls of the hive at nearly the same temperature and if the hives 
are not well lined with propolis, not much condensation takes 
place. With nectar not ripening into honey, they soon feel their 
crowded condition. 

CLUSTERING OUT 

When the bees are clustering out, it is not the heat of the 
hive that bothers them, but the high dewpoint in the hive. Man 
can stand a temperature in dry air much above 100 degrees 
without much discomforture, but let the air become so saturated 
with moisture that the dewpoint approaches the temperature of 
his body, then he feels more or less sufficating effects. We have 
all noticed this condition of atmosphere on a day that we call 
close and stuffy. The bees that are clustering out have this close 
stuffy air in the hive and cluster out for relief. 

Cover the outside of the hive with a wet cloth and soon the 



30 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

bees will be back in the hive about their work. The hive walls 
are cooled by the evaporation of the water from the cloth, bring- 
ing on condensation of hive moisture, consequently lowering the 
dewpoint. 

ABSCONDING SWARMS 

Many beekeepers report swarms leaving a short time after 
being hived. When they have mentioned anything about con- 
ditions, a high temperature and a new hive are noted. These 
make just the right combination to give a high dewpoint in the 
hive. The parts of a new hive naturally would fit close, and wood 
being a very poor radiator of heat, no condensation takes place. 
The swarm objecting to the close stuffy air, and having no home 
ties, leave for a more suitable place. The remedy for bees' that 
will not stay hived is a few days in the cellar. The cellar temper- 
ature is enough colder than the hive a'r to condense the hive mois- 
ture on the wood. 

WILD BEES 

Bees in selecting a home for themselves in a tree, consider 
two things upon which their future welfare depends, and in doing 
this we can believe that their instinct led them right. First, a 
small entrance so that they could easily protect themselves from, 
their enemies. Second, a cavity in the tree of sufficient capacity 
to carry on the work of the hive, and small enough to keep them- 
selves and their brood from being harmed by outside weather 
conditions. Never do we find them, in the selection of a home, 
paying the least attention to ventilation. Natural ventilation 
is a thing that the bees ignore. Every beekeeper has visible 
evidence of this truth in his aipary and it cannot be made more 
clear by further discussion. 

LATENT HEAT 

Evaporating by the aid of condensation has the advantage 
that it retains the latent heat in the hive. This might be con- 
sidered too small a thing to claim our attention. Most things 
pertaining to a colony of bees are small, but the result of many 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 31 

small things working in a single direction and having the same 
ultimate goal, is great efficiency. But this is not as small as it[ 
appears to be. During the urge period, it conserves great quan- 
tities of heat for the colony. The bees' instinct leads them to 
give consideration to things that make for economy. If one 
pound of water is evaporated in a hive, the water vapor into which 
this volume of water has been converted, contains latent heat 
enough to raise 1,000 pounds (about four barrels) one degree. 
Irt changing this back from a gaseous to a liquid state, the same 
amount of heat is given off in the hive. By ventilation it is lost. 

HIVE WALL TEMPERATURE 

If a hive of bees be covered with heating-manure to keep iti 
warm in spring the colony will dwindle and become very Weak. 
Hive walls are warmer than hive air and no condensation takes 
place. For the same reason bees in a greenhouse dwindle. They 
should be set where the hive walls can cool during the night. 

In some loclaities in spring, occurs a succession of days dur- 
ing which the bees do not fly. They have young brood in the 
hive and when they do not get condensed water from the walls 
the increase is very slow. A colony of bees, small in proportion 
to the hive, does not build up as fast as one that is strong for the 
size of the hive. When bees are not able to heat the hive air 
above the temperature of the walls, no condensation takes place, 
and when the bees cannot fly no water is available for domestic 
purposes. How many beekeepers have stopped to consider where 
the bees got the water to rear brood before the first flight ? Dis- 
tilation tells the story. 

Condensation tells many a story to explain bee behavior. Can 
you wonder at the awe and amazement with which I approached 
this phase of bee economy, when brought to a realization of the 
wonderful instinct that led the bee into the realms of physics, to 
select propolis, one of the best substances nature has, to bring 
their work up to a high state of efficiency. This instinct tells 
them that freer evaporation obtains when the water vapor is 
being freely condensed on the inner walls of the hive. It tells 
them that water can be evaporated in any air with a tempera- 



S 2 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

ture 20 degrees lower than that liquid. It tells them that this 
water can be condensed readily on the propolis covered walls of 
the hive. Wonderful is the instinct of the bee ! 

CONSTRUCTIVE HIVE 

The hive that condenses the most water vapor and leaves it 
so that the bees can dispose of it, is the hive in which we find 
the contented bees. This water vapor may be allowed to pass 
from the top of the hive and be condensed the same as in the 
condensing chamber of a still, but by this process the bees are 
deprived of the water the same as when the honey is ripened 
wholly by evaporation. It has been shown in the chapter on evap- 
oration that for every pound of honey ripened in the hive the 
bees, when they use the condensing system, have for their domes- 
tictic use from two to four pounds of water. This amount of 
water is from 60 to 80 per cent of what nectar the bees brought 
in that day. Now when this water escapes from the hive and 
they have to make special trips for water to take the place of 
this that has escaped, it is obvious that the bees that have to go 
for water, will reduce the number of nectar gathering bees. This 
percentage can only be speculated upon, but it runs from 20 td 
60 per cent of the field force. When all the field force presist in 
gathering nectar, as I am almost certain they do at times, the 
brood is restricted. 

What the bees want is a hive that is a good condenser and 
that retains the condensed water on the inner surface of the 
hive. The nurse bees can then gather it as they want it. We will 
have to give the bees credit for being efficient, and it follows that 
they do not evaporate the water from the nectar that they mix 
with the food for the brood, but from the surplus. But there 
occurs a day or a succession of days, during the urge period, when 
no nectar nor water are brought in, and these are the days when 
condensed water from a humid atmosphere brings contentment 
to the colony. 

The hive, that from years of experimenting and close ob- 
servations of weather and hive conditions, gives these results, 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 33 

I will now try to describe. All my hives are factory made, ten- 
frame Langstroth dimensions. All flat covers have been set 
aside and telescope covers substituted. No inner covers, or honey- 
boards, are used. This cover rests on a rabited cleat that extends 
all around the hive. This cleat is fastened at a proper distance 
from the top of the hive-body to allow a beespace between the 
upper edge of the hive-body and the cover. On the inside top of 
the cover is fastened a piece of "wall board," 13 3-4 by 17 1-2 
inches. This "wall board" is between 1-4 and 3-8 of an inch 
•thick. The cleat on which. the cover rests is rabited so as to 
leave a 3-8 inch space all raound between the hivebody and 
cover, and over the edges of the hivebody and above the frames. 
The cover, inside measure, for a hivebody 16 inches wide is 5 1-8 
by 16 3-4 by 20 3-4 inches. 

All joints and cracks are filled with hot rosin or pitch and 
the inside of the hivebody and cover is given three coats of 
varnish'. 

The cross section of the Constructive Hive given here shows 
at a glance the consrtuction of the cover and the way it is 
supported on the hive. Note how similar in principle is this 
cover to the inverted pan that is set in the garden. and which 
has dew deposited on the inside surface in the morning. 

The bees seem to regard this cover as the final word on 
inside finish, and they are the ones whose approval we must look 
for. Never have I found one attempt to intrefere on their part. 
The cover in the fall is just as free from propolis as it was the 
day it was given to them. 

This cover was built as the result of conclusions arrived at 
from a study of condensation of moisture. The only object when 
designing it was to make the hive a condenser that would ileave 
the condensed water where the bees could use it, but its good 
points do not stop at that one thing, as I have observed after its 
use for some time. These good points are as follows : 



34 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 




CROSS SECTION OF THE CONSTRUCTIVE HIVE 



1. Good condenser. 

2. Wind does not blow it off. 

3. When once on a bump or jar from person or object does" 
not misplace it. 

4. Bees are more gentle to handle. 

5. No bees are crushed when putting on the cover. 

6. When the cover is removed in cold weather and put on 
again, the hive is just as comfortable as it was before 
the cover was taken off. 

In regard t othe bees being more gentle to handle, it must be 
stated that the bees are so gentle as to make this point very no- 
ticeable, where Seal-Tight covers are used. This must be ac- 
counted for by the reasoning that the bees are contented, and in 
our not having to destroy their gluing when removing the cover. 
They are relieved of all work for the prevention of upward ven- 
tilation, and the old guers, who are so belligerent are not there 
when the cover is taken off. 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 



35 



WINTERING 

So much has been written on wintering bees that it is not 
necessary to try the reader's patience by restating, what has al-^ 
ready been proven of the conditions that give best results. 

Just an enumeration : 

Outdoor Wintering: 

Strong in your bees. Sufficient honey of good quality. No 
disturbance. Entrance and hive in proportion to the number of 
bees. Hive. Sufficient insulation. Sealed covers. Absorbent 
cushions ? 

Inside Wintering : 

Strong in young bees. Sufficient honey of good quality. No 
disturbance. Large entrance. Ventilation of room good. . Tem- 
perature of room 57 degrees. 

Poor wintering is due to disturbance. Disturbance can be dia- 
gramed as follows: 



Jaring. 
Light. 
Noise. 
Poor honey. 
Temperature of air 
surrounding the hive. 
Humidity of air 
surrounding the hive. 



> 



X 

• r— I 

Xfl 



U 

S 



>> 



3 



High: Disturbance. 

57 deg. F. : Comfortable. 

Low: Disturbance. 

High: Disturbance. 

70 to 80% Comfortable. 

Low : Disturbance. 



The bee is so constructed that the temperature of its body 
can be reduced to 57 degrees.* This reduction of body-temper- 
ature the bee does not control, but it is the result of reduced 
temperature of the air surrounding the bee. The tmperature of 
the bodyof the bee can be raised in two ways ; first, b# the tem- 
perature of the air surrounding it ; second, by a power inherrent 
in the bee. The bee cannot of his own volition lower his tem- 
perature below that of the surrounding air, hence, to attain that 



*U. S. Farmers Bulletin, 695. 



36 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

condition of body that gives winter's quiet and contentment, it 
depends wholly upon the temperature of the air surrounding it. 

This minimum body-temperautre has been found to be 57 
degrees. When the temperature of the air surrounding the bee 
is below this point energy is used by the bee to keep its temper- 
ature up to this safe minimum . 

The instinct of the bee leads it to do things, not wholly for 
his own individual comfort, but for the good of the colony. For 
this reason we find the bees clustered when the temperature of 
the hive air goes below 57 degrees. The temperature of the 
cluster may be raised at the center to 90 degrees, the ones at 
the outside of the cluster are giving their bodies for isolation of 
the cluster. It is not known if a temperature down to freezing 
injures these exposed bees. Bees have been revived after ex- 
posure, for some time to a very low temperature. 

If the reader will keep in mind this relation of temperature 
to the bees, the effect of humidity of the air on a colony of bees 
will be better understood. It is evident to every person wintering 
bees that humidity plays an important part in success or failure. 
-Temperature and humidity are so related to each other that tem- 
perature controls the absolute humidity of the air at saturation, 
as the following tabulation shows : 

Vapor wt. per Cu Ft. 
Temperature at saturation. 

Grains. 

0.54 

10 0.84 

20... 1.30 

30 1.97 

40 2.86 

50 4.09 

60 5.75 

70 7.99 

80 : 10.95 

90 14.81 

100 . 19.79 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 37 

Where we find a colony with diarrhea we find even the 
frames and combs damp. This is the condition of most colonies 
that are dead or very weak in spring. Honey has an absorbing 
power for water and in a moisture-laden air will absorb great 
quantities of it. When honey gets thin and watery it is not good 
feed for bees, and with such a diet the system soon clogs, and 
we are all familiar with the results. 

We naturally ask the cause of this moisture-laden air. Most 
beekeepers give respiration of the bees as the cause. One day in 
the fall I took a Seal-Tight cover from the hive and held it so that 
the drops of water that were condensed on its inside surface could 
run down to a corner of the cover. Then I poured out a little 
more than two ounces of water. What yet remained on the 
cover I estimated to be one ounce. Three ounces of water con- 
densed on the cover. No estimate was made of the amount on 
the hive-walls. Did the bees breathe out that much water the 
previous night? 

One of the axioms of physics is that something cannot be 
produced from nothing. If bees are confined in winter quarters 
120 days and they consume 30 pounds of honey, of which 1-5 is 
water, making the consumption of 6 pounds of water during the 
winter, or 1 1-4 of an ounce for one day. Could they breathe out 
all the water that they eat, this amount falls away short of 
the amount that condenses on a Seal-Tight cover in a single- 
wall hive on a cool night. 

OUTDOOR WINTERING 

The ordinary beekeeper cannot keep his bees at a uniform 
temperature; neither can he control the humidity of the air. 
So his bees have a fluctuating temperature to overcome and con- 
sequently a changing humidity. This changing humidity is the 
one great unseen cause of disturbance in bees. 

A clear understanding of the laws of meteorology that relate 



38 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

to moisture in the air, will be necessary to comprehend wher>e 
this water vapor comes from. The amount of water vapor in the 
atmosphere is ascertained by using two tested thermometers. 
One, called the dry bulb, is exposed and the temperature .noted. 
The other one has a cloth covering the bulb. This cloth is mois- 
tened and the thermometer whirled in the air for a short time, 
and the temperature noted. Then by subtracting the tempera- 
ture of the wet bulb from that of the dry bulb, we have a basis for 
computing the dewpoint, and from this the relative humidity. 
Knowing the tmeperature of the dewpoint and the amount of 
water vapor that saturates the air at that temperature, we have 
the absolute humidity. Divide the absolute humidity of the dew- 
point by the absolute humidity of the dry bulb temperature and 
you have the relative humidity. 

Air can be supersaturated; that is it can contain water in 
excess of that which saturates it at its temperature, but this 
excess water is held in the air in globules of water and is known 
as fog or clouds. The excess water has given up all its gaseous 
properties and is not subject to the same laws as the water vapor 
cf the air. 

The gaseous vapor of the air is controlled by the same laws, 
in regard to its expansion and contraction as air. It is well 
known that if a chamber, in which the air is rairified, is opened, 
the air rushes in from the outside until the outside and inside 
air have the same density. 

Water vapor does not rush into a hive, where the hive air is 
relatively dry and a small opening is maintained, but is slowly 
forced in until its tention at hive temperature equals the tention 
of the outside vapor at outside temperature. Because of this slow 
^movement of water vapor, when its tention inside the hive is 
greater than on the outside it condenses on the inner walls, or is 
transformed into fog, which then looses the expansive power of 
a gas and is retained in the hive. 

Disturbance inside the hive which causes the bees to raise 
the temperature of the hive air, with its then greater capacity 
for moisture, or a fall of temperature or raise of relative hu- 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 39 

midity outside, give an unequal vapor tention and cause vapor to 
pass from the outside into the hive. 

When the hive air is cooling it loses some of its moisture 
which is condensed in the hive. To illustrate ; assume a hive tem- 
perature of 57 degrees and an absolute humidity of four grains, 
which temperature is raised to 70 degrees, and still 4 grains of 
moisture, to equalize the tention of the vapor, inside and outside, 
some moisture is slowly forced through the opening; let us say 
until this 70 degree air holds 6 grains. When this air is reduced 
to 57 degrees and an absolute humidity of 4 grains, two grains of 
water is left in the hive after this disturbance. 

Suppose the hive is not insulated (no thickness of insolation 
is too much in any locality whose temperature falls below 50 de- 
grees) and the outside temperature drops to 32 degrees, the hive 
temperature drops from 57 degrees, humidity 4 grains, to 40 
dgrees ; at 40 degrees air is saturated with 2.86 grains. In this 
case about 1 1-2 grains of water is left in the hive. 

Let us pass to the next cause, the change of the humidity of 
the outside air. Assume a maximum temperature of 40 degrees, 
a relative humidity of 84 degrees and an absolute humidity of 
about 2.30 grains : the hive air at 50 degrees, a relative humidity 
of 74 per cent and an absolute humidity of 3 grains. To; equalize 
the tension of the vapor inside and outside the hive a constant 
movement of vapor into the hive is taking place, which when 
it is equal to the humidity that the condensing surface of the hive 
can maintain, is being constantly condensed on the inner surface 
of the hive. Consider the amount of vapor that is constantly 
passing into the hive on days when the relative humidity is 96 
per cent. There are many days in the more southerly states 
when a 100 per cent relative humidity obtains. 

Because of the small amount of moisture with which a zero 
atmosphere is saturated (0.54 grains) bees in the north have 
less moisture to contend with than in the south, where the tem- 
perature ranges from 32 degrees up to 60 and 70 degrees. In 
the latter locality absolute humidity of 32 degree air at satura- 
tion is 2 grains ; at 60 degrees it is 5.76 grains. In the colder lo- 



40 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 

calities, with a temperature of zero or lower for weeks at a time, 
insulation is necessary to protect the bees from the cold, and in 
spring and fall to protect them from excess of moisture. In lo- 
calities where the cold is not so severe but that the bees can beat 
back what little cold comes in at the entrance, insulation is neces- 
sary to keep the hive dry. In the north we insulate to keep the 
hive warm and dry. In the south you should insulate to keep 
the hive dry. 

The question naturally arises as to how insulation keeps the 
hive dry. How it keeps the hive warm is obvious. Because at- 
mospheric vapor and temperature are so correlated they must be 
considered together. Heat is communicated in three ways: by 
conduction, when it travels from partical to partical in the sub- 
stance heated ; by convection, when the particals of the substance 
heated move away from the sourre of heat; by radiation, when 
heat travels through space in all directions from the heated sub- 
stance. 

Insulation has to do with heat communicated by conduction. 
A substance that is a poor conductor is a good insulator. The 
escape of heat from a substance or space depends on the amount 
and quality of insulation surrounding the substance or space. 
The fireless cooker is a good example of what insulation does. 

The wood of which a hive is made is the insulation that sur- 
rounds the hive air. Add to this insulation a uniform thickness 
of leaves, sawdust, chaff or any other insulator and you make 
it harder for the heat to pass out of the hive by conduction. 
Hence a well insulated hive has a temperature more nearly uni- 
form than a single wall one. 

The temperature of a hive could easily be kept uniform if the 
bees did not have to have air. An opening must be left for ven- 
tilation, and because of this heat is passing out of the hive by con- 
vection. Not much heat passes through this opening by radia- 
tion or conduction, as air absorbs heat slowly and does not readily 
part with it. The escape of heat where the opening is not too 
large, is not great and the radiation and convection of heat from 
the bees will balance that, where outside temperature is not very 
low. Where they have both opening and single walled hives 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 41 

(poor insulation) to contend with, they exert energy, and the 
consequent consumption of stores, to supply the loss. 

The more insulation and the greater the number of bees in 
the hive, the more the temperature of the hive air lags behind as 
the outside temperature changes. The hive vapor under these 
conditions moves out slowly and does not saturate the hive air r 

When a colony of bees cluster they create for themselves a 
hive within a hive. The insulation of the cluster hive is the 
bodies of the bees on the outside of the cluster, and the colder 
the hive air the better they make this insulation. 

Let us now indulge in a little speculation. It is an estab- 
lished fact that the heat of the inside of the cluster increases as 
the hive temperature falls and vice versa. The honey stores are 
mostly outside of the cluster and exposed to the vapor of the 
hive. We know that the bees have ways of controling the vapor 
of the hive in summer. May it not be possible that the rise in 
temperature of the cluster is for the purpose of increasing the lag 
in temperature? This may mean a great deal to them by pro- 
tecting their honey from moisture. 

ABSORBENT CUSHIONS 

As understood by beekeepers any porous material placed be- 
tween the cover and frames for insulation is an absorbent cush- 
ion. 'Claim is made that moisture escapes through this cushion. 
Sometimes the moisture has tried to escape this way and in the 
spring the cushion is wet. Sometimes the cushion does not fit 
snug against the super and an opening is left which gives upward 
ventilation. Moisture here travels in the path of least resistance 
and posses off through the largest opening it can find. If a close 
examination is made in the winter frost will be found where the 
moisture is passing out and the cushion found dry. Sometimes 
the cushions are found dry where the burlap is laid across the 
top of the hive and the super set on this and filled with padking. 
If this burlap is examined a great deal of propolis is found on it, 
put there by the bees to prevent upward ventilation. Sometimes 
this cushion is found dry because the inside of the hive is well 



42 CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEiPING 

varnished with propolis, the insulation is good, which conditions 
keep the hive air at a proper humdty. 

The temperature of an nsulated wall, which has an unequal 
temperature on its opposite sides, will at the points within this 
wall be influenced by the distance that these points are from 
the surface. If the outside temperature is 10 below zero the 
first quarter of an inch on the outside part of this insulation 
will be about 10 below zero. The inside surface would be about 
hive temperature. Unless the laws of nature are bent or broken, 
water vapor would not travel far in this material, under these 
conditions, without being condensed. 

In winter as well as summer, the big part that a well var- 
nished hive and the consequent condensation play can be seen. 
Most beekeepers winter their bees in hives used a year or more. 
These hives give results in proportion to the way they are var- 
nished with propolis and sealed at the top. When all hives are 
well varnished inside, a seal-tight cover provided, and other nec- 
essary things pertaining to good wintering, such as bees, food, 
sheltered location, insulation and a clear entrance, bee conserva- 
tion will have advanced. 

INDOOR WINTERING 

Indoor wintering differs from outdoor wintering in that 
the repository where the hives are stored is the regulator of the 
temperature and moisture, instead of each individual hive. A 
good cellar or other repository where a nearly uniform tempera- 
ture of 50 to 57 degrees is maintained, and well ventilated, is an 
ideal place to winter bees. 

When setting the hives in the cellar remove the bottom board 
from each hive ; then forget that the bees are in individual hives, 
and think of your cellar as one big complex hive. About the only 
use there is for a hive in the cellar is that it is a convenient 
place to hang the frames. If the temperature and ventilation are 
good, and the cellar dark, the bees will wniter as well if the 
frames are taken out of the hive and hung on a rack, and prop- 
erly spaced. 



CONSTRUCTIVE BEEKEEPING 43 

Small entrances are the primary cause of more dead bees 
than anything else. Condensation takes place in a hive with a 
small entrance for the same reason as given in outdoor winter- 
ing; a change of hive temperature caused by some disturbance. 
The botton board must be left off to eliminate this moisture trou- 
ble. This gives an equal temperature to hive walls and hive air, 
and makes condensation on the hive walls impossible. If a colony 
of bees give off much moisture in respiration, and there is no 
doubt that they give off some, it is easily diffused through th'e 
air by means of the large opening at the bottom. 

Let us remember that what we are trying to prevent is ex- 
cess of moisture in the hive air, and that we control it by our 
control of the temperature of the repository. Temperature and 
its relation to moisture is the keystone to successful wintering. 

CONCLUSION 

When we compare evaporation by the aid of ventilation with 
that which takes place aided by condensation, and give this an 
application of the laws of heat, with its three ways of commu- 
nication; conduction, convection and radiation, the tension of 
vapors ; and the stillness, dryness and density of the atmosphere, 
our conclusion must be that condensation is so uniform in its 
results, that it elimniates everything ascribed to locality, but the 
number of flowers and the weather conditions that affect the 
flight of bees and the flow of nectar. All other conditions, by^ 
the aid of condensation, can be controled by the beekeeper. 

Ventilation and shade each make more room in the hive, but 
not with uniformity under all conditions. So we must add to the 
treatments we give the bees, a well varnished inner surface to 
the hive, and a cover that, at no time, permits of upward ventila- 
tion. Then the bees will be able to keep the nectar out of the 
way of a queen, whose egg-laying capacity is increasing daily. 

Room, and the procedure whereby the bees automatically 
make more room as they need it, is the single thing that we have 
io consider in urge prevention. 



*:• -»\ 'iJ+w&Bmim* 



